Electric iron



y .1952 J. H. BEACH 2,597,700

ELECTRIC IRON Filed April 3, 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET l INVENTOR. JUSTICE H. BEACH J. H. BEACH ELECTRIC IRON May 20, 1952 INVENTOR. JUSTICE H. BEACH BY:

ATT'Y Patented May 20, 1952 ELECTRIC IRGN Justice-H. Beach, 'Canton, Ohio, assignor to The .Hoover Company, North -Canton,"-'Ohi0, a corporation of.0.hio

Application April 3, 1951; Serial No.2 18,97

10 .Claims. 11 v The present invention :relates to :electric smoothing irons and moreparticularly :to .a roombined contro1 and monductor cord swiveling ;;a-r rangem'ent therefor.

Specifically-accordingto the;present invention, a conductorcord is secured toxthe rear o f' .,t;he cover shell so that it ..-can be extended directly rearwardly fromitheiron or rotated to extend either to the =-right.- or .leftfor rightqand left hand ironing. A'xthermostat control dial ;is:rotatably mounted on thefsame axis beneath ;the ,hand piece of the handle inzorderto conserve space.

According to :the .present invention theziron is provided with a cantilever handle secured at its front end to the sole plate in orderthat the rear of thecover. shell .may :be left free for the mounting. ofrthe control dial and conductorcord.

Other objects and advantages .of the present invention will becomeiapparent asthe description proceeds when taken inconnectionwiththeraccompanying drawings in which:

Figure .1 is a perspective view of the .ironzof the present invention; and

Figure-.2 islasectional view with certain parts broken away to show the details of construction.

Referring'to the drawings, the reference numeral [0 represents a sole plate heated by an embedded electric heater I l of. known'construction.

.A .cover. shell l2 .overlies .the sole .plate [0 and its outline follows that of the soleplate. A cantilever handle I3 is secured to the cover shell l2 in any suitable manner. "The specific method of securingthe handle I3 formsno part of thepresentiinvention and has therefore not bCGIITl'BDIG- sented in any.specificrman-ner. The handle [3 includes .a supporting post t4 and a horizontal .extending'hand piece |5-extending backward-1y overthe top of the cover shells-and adaptedztto be grasped by-the hand of the user. Thumb'rests 53 and 54 are formed on both sides of the handle, at its forward end, for right and left hand ironing respectively.

Near its front end the cover shell I2 is secured to; the sole plate It! by a stud l6 and screw [1. At its rear end the cover shell [2 extends rearwardly of the sole plate at extension IS. A bracket I9 is welded to the inner surface of the extension [8 and is reenforced by a strut 20 as shown in Fig. 2. The bracket I 9 is secured to lugs 2! extending rearwardly from the sole plate [0 by a closure plate 22. The bracket l9, strut 20 and closure plate 22 thus form the rear support for the cover shell l2.

Electric current is conducted to the heater H from a conductor cord 23, by conductors 24, 25,

terminals26 and thermos tatic switchfl. While the switch as such forms no part of the present invention, it comprises a bimetallic element '28:;in heat exchange-relationship with the soleplate l0. Aniinsulating button 29 is supported in the'free end of the bimetallic element 28 and coacts with theend'of a-springarm 30 to open-and close contacts 13;! and 32 as the temperature of the sole plate rises and ,falls.

The contact 32 is mounted-onthe end of spring arm--33 whereby the contact 32 may be moved ,towardlandawayfrom the contact 3| in setting the temperature adjustment of theswitch .21. A shaft 38 is screwthreaded into a nut34 supported on a rigid arm 35,;secured to 1111815016 plate 10 :by a screw 36-whichalsosecuresthe switch to. the sole plate. 7

The lower end of shaft 38 has an insulating button 3.l-.which-contacts the spring arm 33 to move the contact 32 awayfromcontact-3l against the bias of; springarm 3 3.

:Coacting stops =58 and 39 limit the rotation of thershaftx3;8-to;less than 360. A gearluisnonrotatably secured to the upper-end-of the shaft 38 to impart rotation thereto in adjusting the relative positions of the contacts 3| and 32. The ear 40 :iszintermeshed with 1- a i gear 4| which is rotatablywmountedqonthe rear cover shell [-2 v beheath zthe handleflportion l5 of the handle 13. A bearing sleeve 42 is secured to the covershell [213ml =rotatably receives the control sleeve :43 whichihas'itslowerend secured tothe gearAl and its gupperend secured to;a control knob by retractable'::pins 45. The control-knob 44 may be made of. insulatingmaterialasshown.

The bore ;of:sleeve 43 forms a'passage for the conductors-24 and zias well as a passagefor-a supporting.:'p n which is supported at-itslower end oni-a forward extension ofthe bracket [9.

:Rotatably mounted on t-he upper-end of pin 46, by means of spring detent 41 and groove 48 is an insulating dome 49, which supports the conductor cord 23 for rotation to approximately on either side of the iron. The conductor cord 23 extends through the wall of the dome 41, as shown, and is attached thereto by cord protector 50. The conductors 24 and 25 are sufficiently long to permit free rotation of the dome 49. The lower periphery of the dome 49 extends into a recess 5| in the dial 44 to prevent removal of securing pins 45 until the dome is removed. If desired depressions may be formed in the groove 48 on opposite sides to hold the conductor cord 23 either in its right or left hand position. The extension |8 of the cover shell I 2 and the rear of the hand piece of the handle are so positioned as to support the iron in an inclined position on its heel.

As shown in Fig. 1 suitable indicia is inscribed on the top of the dial 44 to cooperate with a reference point 52 on the top of the cover shell I2 to indicate the control setting.

From the foregoing it can be seen that this invention provides an arrangement in which the conductor cord may be swiveled on the cover shell beneath the rear leg of the handle with the control dial rotatably mounted on the same axis thereby preserving space and presenting a neat appearance.

While I have shown and described but a single modification of my invention it is to be understood that that modification is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to the particular structure shown and described but to include all equivalent variations thereof except as limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In an electric iron, a sole plate, a heater therefor, electrical conductors for conducting electricity to said heater, a cover shell secured to said sole plate, means for pivotally supporting said conductors on said cover shell, a thermostatic switch for controlling the supply of electricity to said heater and manually actuatable means connected to said switch for adjusting the temperature setting thereof, said manually ac tuatable means including a control dial rotatably mounted above said cover shell on the same axis as said pivotal conductor support.

2. In an electric iron according to claim 1 in which said conductor support includes an insulating dome pivotally mounted above said control dial and said conductors are secured to and pass through the wall of said dome.

3. In an electric iron according to claim 1 in which said control dial is rotatably secured to said cover shell by a bearing sleeve through which said conductors pass.

4. In an electric iron according to claim 3 in which said conductor support includes a supporting pin extending upwardly through said bearing sleeve and said conductor support being pivotally mounted on said pin above said control dial.

5. In an electric iron, a sole plate, a heater therefor, a thermostatic switch for controlling the flow of electricity to said heater, adjustable means for controlling the temperature setting of said switch, a cover shell secured to and overlying said sole plate, a bearing sleeve secured to said cover shell, a control sleeve swiveled on the interior of said bearing sleeve, means for drivingly connecting said control sleeve to said adjustable means, an annular control dial secured to the top of said control sleeve, an electric cord electrically connected to said heater and switch and extending through said control sleeve and means extending through said control sleeve for rotatably supporting said conductor cord on said cover shell.

6. In an electric iron according to claim 5 in which said supporting means comprises a pin secured to said cover shell and extending upwardly through said control sleeve and an insulating dome rotatably secured to the upper end of said pin, said conductor cord extending through and being secured to the wall of said dome with the individual conductors thereof passing through said control sleeve.

'7. In an electric iron, a sole plate, a cover shell secured to and overlying said sole plate, a cantilever handle having a supporting leg secured to the front end of said cover shell and a grip portion extending backwardly therefrom, a heater for said sole plate, a thermostatic switch for controlling the supply of electricity to said heater, a conductor cord electrically connected to said switch and heater, means for pivotally supporting said conductor cord on said cover shell beneath the rear end of the grip portion of said handle, and a manually actuatable control dial connected to said switch for varying the temperature setting thereof, said control dial being supported on said cover shell to rotate on the same axis as said pivotal cord support.

8. In an electric iron according to claim 7 in which said control dial support includes a bearing sleeve through which the conductors of said conductor cord pass.

9. In an electric iron according to claim 8 in which said cord support includes a pin extending upwardly through said bearing sleeve and a housing into which said cord extends swiveled to said pin above said control dial.

10. In an electric iron according to claim '7 in which said cord support includes an insulating housing into which said cord extends swiveled to said cover shell and lying above said control dial.

JUSTICE H. BEACH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,174,359 Brownlee et al Sept. 26, 1939 2,249,620 Samuels July 15, 1941 2,257,506 MacDonald Sept. 30, 1941 2,353,151 Elsenheimer July 11, 1944 2,512,062 Huffman June 20, 1950 2,567,975 Sparklin Sept. 18, 1951 

